Undercity: Manifest

Chapter Twenty-One

The sky was clear and the heat bordering on unbearable as Sadie walked back into the station mid-way through her shift. It had been six weeks since her awkward kiss with Zach, and despite not talking about it directly, things between the two of them had slowly made their way back to normal. Although, she had noticed him taking extra care not to touch her during training any more than was necessary. 

Her skills had vastly improved. She was able to control her magic and completed training drills with ease. The same could be said for her combat training. So much so that Dantre had begun showing her how to fight with weapons. Well, wooden replicas for now. Dante had said she wasn't letting her near a real weapon until he was satisfied she wouldn't accidentally cut his balls off. 

She was biting into her sandwich in the station's cafeteria when her phone's ringtone screeched from her pocket. She had been keeping it on at all times in case Emilie called, knowing she would need to be ready the minute she went into labour. Everything was prepared and everyone knew their role for when the time came. Despite that, Sadie was by no means ready for it. 

The thumping of her heart in her chest began when she saw Chris' name flash across the screen of her phone. Sadie flew up out of her chair, snapping her fingers to gain Ben's attention from across the room. Ben swiftly ended his conversation with the female office he was talking to and followed Sadie out into an empty office. Sadie was already part way through her hurried conversation with Chirs by the time Ben pushed the door closed with a click.

'We're on our way now.' Chris' voice was muffled, and she could hear traffic coming through the phone accompanied by soft moaning from Emilie. 

'How's she doing?' She almost dreaded to ask. 

Chris' swore at another driver before answering. 'She's doing good. Tired, but good.'

Sadie had turned the phone onto speaker as soon as Ben had come in and stood by the door. His arms were folded, taking everything in. She looked over at him with worry marring her face. He mouthed to her that tired is normal. It wasn't until Chris spoke again that she remembered he was still on the phone. 

'Sadie?' 

'Yeah, I'm here.' Her voice was scratchy. 'I'll meet you there. Do you need anything.' 

'Nah, just you. Em's been asking for you since it started. I think she's had enough of my smothering already.' He laughed as he said it and she could just make out Emilie complaining about him fussing before she told Chris how long it would take her to get to the hospital and hung up the phone. 

'You ready?' Ben asked. 

'No.' She stated honestly. 

Ben didn't bother to tell her it would be okay. They both knew what was about to happened and the potential risks of going through with it. They also knew what would happen to Emilie if they did nothing. Words weren't going to fix the situation. 

Sadie dropped her phone in the middle of her text to Payden due to her hands shaking uncontrollably from an overwhelming mix of adrenaline and fear. Ben picked it up for her and put it in her hand. He cupped both of his hands around hers and gave them a light squeeze of re-assurance. 

'I'll call the others from the car. You just get it together before we arrive at the hospital.' 

Sadie shook her head and inhaled a deep breath. 

'You good?' Ben checked before leading them both out of the station to his car. 

They took the police car to the hospital using the blue lights and siren to cut through traffic. If she wasn't going to question the existence of witches and other mystical beings, she wasn't going to question how they would get away with this slight abuse of power.